Formula 1 Third Test: Times from Day 3 at Barcelona

Day three of the third test at the Circuit de Catalunya took place on Saturday, and a sunny day was forecast, with a top temperature of 15°C (59°F).

But we all know meteorologists can get it wrong from time to time, and sure enough, the dry running was ended mid-afternoon by rain and a bit of hail.

The game of musical seats continued, with Heikki Kovalainen and Bruno Senna the only men driving for a second day in a row.  Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo had their first taste of the action this week.

Felipe Massa was apparently fired last night, but despite that setback, he still replaced Fernando Alonso—another reminder that care must always be taken with rumours circulated on Twitter.

In the world of real news, HRT have admitted defeat in their quest to get the F112 ready for the final day.  In their three years of existence, the Spanish team has yet to complete a single lap of preseason testing. They and Marussia—who still haven't passed the final crash test—will be entering the first race weekend with cars that are totally untested on the track.

Back to Saturday's action.  The quickest time of the day was supplied by Sauber's Sergio Perez, a 1:22.094, setting a new benchmark for the fastest time at the track this year.  McLaren man Jenson Button was nine-thousandths of a second back.

#	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
01	Sergio Perez	Sauber	1:22.094	114
02	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:22.103	44
03	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:22.155	131
04	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:22.413	122
05	Paul di Resta	Force India	1:22.446	108
06	Bruno Senna	Williams	1:22.480	111
07	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	1:22.630	64
08	Mark Webber	Red Bull	1:22.662	70
09	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:22.932	129
10	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	1:25.379	43

As this was the last testing day for many drivers, some form of faster running was expected, and the teams didn't disappoint.  Perez's time was set during a three-lap qualifying simulation on the Pirelli soft tyres.  Button used either the soft or medium compound for his best.

After yesterday, it's not too surprising, but I have to mention him again.  Heikki Kovalainen's time of 1.22.630 was very nearly three seconds quicker than his qualifying time last year, and though set on the super-softs, it's a very encouraging sign. 

The top nine were separated by just nine-tenths of a second, and the overall speed was good.  Everyone from Nico Rosberg up would have qualified in the top 10 for last season's race.

The odd man out, Kimi Raikkonen, spent much of the morning battling steering issues with the Lotus and didn't get round to doing any low-fuel stints.  The Finn was limited to just 43 laps and can't have been pleased with his day.

Button's running was also disrupted, a hydraulic problem with the McLaren leaving him on a disappointing 44 laps. 

Sunday—the 12th and final day of preseason testing—will see Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton return to the cockpit. 

It's likely the ultimate pace of the top cars around the Barcelona track is under the 81-second mark, perhaps even closer to 1:20.500.  Fancy taking up the challenge, Mr. Vettel?

The session will start, as usual, at 9am CET.